4th of July
by chemicalxrachel
Summary: Holiday Series: Part 3: Belle, Marcus, Baelfire {11} and Elsa {9} Gold go on a family vacation for 4th of July weekend to the sandy beaches of Ocean City, Maryland.


Summary: Belle, Marcus, Baelfire {11} and Elsa {9} Gold go on a family vacation for 4th of July weekend to the sandy beaches of Ocean City, Maryland.

Rating: T

Pairing: Rumbelle

A/N: I wasn't sure if I was going to do this part of the series, but I decided to because someone said it was their birthday. So, to Wondermorena, thanks for reviewing and Happy Birthday! :-). I also know some cute fluff is needed in this fandom, and I am here to provide haha.

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 **Friday, July 3rd**

It'd been a grand idea to go on vacation for 4th of July, get out of their small town for the weekend and enjoy some fun in the sun. It'd been Belle who had picked where she wanted to go, but Marcus had rented the house they'd stay in. They rarely ever stayed in a hotel, it was usually a home they rented and Gold usually rented the best for his family. And Belle had picked Ocean City, Maryland.

Why she picked Ocean City, mainly because it was supposed to be nice there and she'd never been that far south before. She'd seen an advertisement for the beach town on television and had fallen in love with the idea of going there, enjoying the sights of Maryland and Assateague island.

But she'd also insisted that they drive down there rather than take a plane.

'Bonding time', she'd said. 'Family time,' she'd argued as she talked her husband into it. Of course she could talk him into it, she always seemed to be able to get her way regardless on what Gold thought. So there he was, in a car driving probably nine or ten hours with two children and his lovely wife.

Problem was those two children had long ago gotten restless in their trip. Baelfire was only eleven and Elsa was nine and there was only so much they could amuse themselves with. Belle had been good to pack activities for the children, coloring books, various electronics, summer reading books for the two of them. They'd also planned on stopping at various points in the journey to give the family a break from the road and perhaps switch up drivers.

They were just into hour four of the journey when Elsa started to squirm in her seat. "Daddyyy..." she said, looking forward at her father.

"What is it princess?" he asked quietly while keeping his eyes on the road in front of him.

"I'm hungry daddy." she answered.

Looking at her, Baelfire rolled her eyes. "Quit whining."

She shot him a look and pouted. "Shut up Bae! I wasn't _talking_ to you."

"I don't care. And you can't tell me what to do."

Crossing her arms across her chest tightly as she stared her brother down. "Yes huh!"

"Both of you, enough." Belle said, looking through her bag and taking out a peach before handing it back to Elsa. "Here you are honey, will this tide you over until we can stop?"

Elsa seemed to think about it before she reached to take the peach from her mother, leaning back in her seat and taking a bite of it as she glanced at her brother.

Glancing at his wife, Gold smiled a bit as he mouthed a 'thank you' before he looked back at the road.

As they drove they began debating on where to go to eat lunch. Both kids were getting a bit cranky, and frankly Gold wanted to stop driving for a while. But even picking a place to eat was fun when they had two children with two different ideas of what they should eat.

Baelfire wanted to eat at Bob Evans. Elsa wanted to eat at Cracker Barrel. Really, Gold and Belle didn't care either way, but the discussion soon escalated.

"She _always_ gets to pick! Why can't I pick?" Baelfire asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"I do not! Pleaseeee mommy, cracker barrel is sooo much better. It's got cool stuff all over. Anywhere else is _boring_." Elsa said as she rolled her eyes as to say 'duh.'

Baelfire shook his head. "No, Bob Evans has better food! Come on please mom? Dad?" he asked, looking up at his parents.

Pouting a bit, Elsa reached over and shoved her brothers shoulder. "Cracker Barrel!"

When he was shoved, he looked back and shoved her back. "Bob Evans!" he shouted back.

"Barrel!" she insisted, shoving him a bit harder.

"Evans!" he came back, shoving her shoulder hard.

As he did she whined. "Daddy! Baelfire's hurting me!"

"You started it!"

"Did not!"

"DID TOO."

"STOP." Gold spoke up. Frankly his head was pounding. He loved his children to death, he would do anything for them. But having them both trapped in a car for hours on end when they were both cranky just wasn't something he was enjoying. "We're going to Bob Evans." he said, glancing at his kids in the rearview mirror before back at the road. "We can go to Cracker Barrel for dinner, huh? They're everywhere." he said, attempting to compromise between the two kids.

"But daddy..." Elsa started to say.

"No buts. You did get to pick last time we went out princess." he said. Though, his daughters pout and sweet puppy dog face could always make him crack, just like his Belle. He had a weakness for the two females in his life.

Good thing Belle nodded and decided to back him up. "Your father is right. Elsa now don't pout you _did_ get to pick last time. Be a good sport, we'll stop at Bob Evans." she said, glancing back at her daughter. "Elsa, you're a big girl so act like it please."

"Fine." Elsa said as she crossed her arms across her chest, upset for the moment. Belle just chuckled a bit and reached to the GPS to program it to take them to the nearest Bob Evans into it.

They all knew Elsa would get over it. She was a kid and sometimes had temper tantrums. But they were reaching her to share, and that sometimes she wouldn't always get her way.

Belle smiled and rest one hand on her husbands shoulder, rubbing it a bit. Feeling her hand, he slowly moved one of his hand to take ahold of it, bringing her knuckles up to kiss them gently before lowering both of their hands. Though he didn't let go, he drove with one hand while his right hand held Belle's softly his thumb rubbing small circles on her hand.

She couldn't help but smile when he held her hand, even after years of marriage she loved even just holding his hand.

And he drove while his hand held onto hers, following the GPS to the restaurant. Driving into the parking lot, he found a spot and parked, turning the car off before he let go of Belle's hand to get out.

Both of them got out of the car and opened the back doors so the kids could get out. Gold let his daughter out, taking her hand to help her down as his other hand held onto his cane. Once she was out he shut the door and glanced over, seeing Belle and Baelfire already waiting on the sidewalk for him.

He loved his family and sometimes he couldn't believe that this _was_ his family. That such a beautiful woman would give him two children.

Giving her a smile, he walked up to them with Elsa and into the restaurant and asked the hostess for a table. He didn't used to eat in places like this. He used to only eat at the nicest of places, fine restaurants with expensive meals. No, he wasn't born into money, but when he'd come into it he liked the finer things in life. Really, he still did but his Belle pulled him back down a bit, made him realize that the fine things were nice and all but what mattered was the experiences they had, being together.

Frankly, the first time she had him eat at a fast food place he'd been most uncomfortable. But now he very rarely ate at the nicer places. Those things were reserved for special occasions. Anyone that accused Belle of being after him for his money was dead wrong, she wasn't interested in the money. Even after so many years of marriage she still was uncomfortable with him spending a whole lot on her. Instead she encouraged him to put money away for their children's future, for their education.

And well provided for they were. Both Elsa and Baelfire had a trust fund that was separate from their college funds. All of his family was and would be.

For vacation Gold had even dressed down from his usual full suit. There he wore a pair of dress pants and a button up shirt. Really Belle had been rather proud of him when he'd come downstairs without his suit. And he hadn't even packed one suit for the trip since Belle had done the packing for him.

After they'd been seated and had each ordered what they sat back a bit. Elsa started to color on the placemat with the crayons the waitress had given her and Baelfire was looking around at the other tables and people. Belle smiled at her husband and glanced at the kids.

"So, we're about halfway there. A little less than half. You kids going to be okay in the car a bit longer?" she asked. Baelfire sat next to her so she reached to brush his hair out of his face and behind his ear, to which he shook his head away from his mothers hand.

"I'll be okay." he said, leaning against the table a bit.

"Uh huh.." Elsa said, looking up at her mother. "Is the house really on the beach Mama?"

Belle smiled and nodded. "It is. Right on the beach. You'll love it. I saw pictures online and it looks absolutely breathtaking." she said dreamily, looking towards her husband. "Fun in the sun, right dear?"

Chuckling a bit, Gold nodded. "Indeed."

"Can we go swimming first?" Elsa asked excitedly.

"Well..." Gold started, looking down at his daughter and sighing. "We'll see."

"I bet we'll be able to see the fireworks tomorrow night on the beach too. It'll be fun." Belle added.

And they were excited to see the fireworks, to play in the sand.

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 **A Few Hours Later**

When they arrived in Ocean City, finding the house was pretty easy since the GPS led them right to it. It was a cute little house right on the beach. When Gold parked Belle stepped out of the car and smiled as she looked up at the house. It was a bit smaller than their house in Storybrooke, however that didn't matter since it was just a vacation. It was adorable though with light blue siding with white trimmed country windows.

"Oh Marcus, isn't it beautiful?" she asked as she glanced over at her husband who was getting out of the car as well.

He gave her a smile and a nod. "It is, very beautiful." he said as he moved to open the back door to help Elsa out.

Belle nodded and let Baelfire out as well before she walked to the trunk to start getting the bags. She took out the ones with wheels and put them on the ground. With it being four people they had plenty of luggage that they'd barely been able to fit in the trunk of the cadillac.

"Bae, go help your mother." Gold said as he glanced at his son.

"Yes Papa." he answered, walking around and moving to take a few of the bags, starting to walk up to the door with his father.

"I wanna help too Mommy!" Elsa said excitedly as she moved to take her own bag, giving her mother a bright smile.

Knowing she couldn't carry much more Belle made sure that Elsa only took hers while she took another one, walking around and up into the house. Placing the bags down, she glanced at Baelfire. "There is one more. Could you go get that for me?"

"I'll get it Mama." he said with a nod, moving to walk outside to get the bag.

"Thank you Bae. And make sure to close the trunk when you're done." she said as she gave him a smile before she walked further into the house.

It was adorable, done up like a real beach cottage. Well, it was a real beach cottage. Walking through the living room to the large sliding glass doors that led out to the deck which led straight to the sandy beach. That was the part she couldn't wait for.

Pushing open the doors, Belle stepped out onto the deck, taking in a deep breath of the salty ocean air. Sure, they could have stayed home for the nice smell in the air, but no Belle wanted a trip. And really this was a lot more relaxing than staying in town where gossips would have run wild. No, Belle had always wanted adventure and thus she picked a beach quite a ways away from Maine, landing them in Maryland just a few miles away from the Delaware border.

When she felt arms around her waist she smiled, resting her hands on top of her husbands and glancing back at his face. "It's beautiful. Thank you." she said, leaning and giving him a slow kiss.

He returned her kiss, brushing his nose against hers and resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked out at the ocean, listening to the waves lapping against the sandy beach. "It's no matter. You know whatever you want all you need to do is ask. It is beautiful here." he said. And he meant it, he would try his hardest to give her anything she could ever want or ask for, even though Belle didn't ask for much.

Gently she squeezed his hands before she looked back out over the water sighing happily. Really she just wanted to stand there for a minute, admiring the ocean and how close they were. There was other houses up and down the beach, but this little bit seemed almost private.

As they stood there, Elsa looked up and walked over to her parents. "Oh cool! We're so close!" she said excitedly as she walked outside and towards where the deck ended and the sand began. Bits of sand had also been blown up against the wood of the deck.

Glancing back at her parents she smiled a bit. "Can we go swimming? Pleaseeee?" she asked.

Chuckling, Belle nodded. "We can, for a bit. Why don't you go take your suitcase and pick a room, then get in your bathing suit?"

"Okay! Are you coming too Papa?"

"I don't...do much swimming. Go on, get ready yourself." he answered, glancing back. "Bae, go ahead and take your things upstairs and get ready to go swimming if you'd like."

Elsa pouted a bit at her fathers answer, looking and sharing a look with her mother before she grinned and nodded, running past them to get her things.

Slowly Belle shifted to turn around in her husbands arms, moving her own arms around his neck. "You don't swim?" she asked skeptically as her fingers ran along the back of his neck.

"Dearest, swimming is not something one does with a bad knee. You know this."

"I know. But...you could take your shoes off, put your sandals on and hang out with us on the beach. Please?" she asked, pouting to him cutely as her fingers traced along the collar of his shirt slowly to rest on his chest.

He let out a sigh and then a nod, knowing he wouldn't win this fight. He'd learned long ago to pick and choose his battles with his wife, and this was not want he wanted to choose. "Alright, you win. Go on and get changed yourself." he said, rubbing her back before letting her go.

She nodded, kissing him slowly and a bit deeper than before. Leaning back from the kiss, she walked around him to go into the house and gather her things.

It only took them all a few minutes to get their things upstairs and change. Elsa was the first one ready, running down in her bathing suit with a towel in one hand. Looking at his daughter, Gold chuckled. "Excited?" he asked from his place on the couch. He'd decided to sit down and wait for them to be ready.

"Yeah! It's gunna be fun Papa!" she said, running over to him and jumping up to sit in his lap.

An 'omph' sound left his throat when she jumped on him like that. At least she'd learned not to jump on his injured knee over the years. Slowly he hugged her, kissing the top of her head. "Indeed it shall sweetheart. Are you excited to see the fireworks tomorrow night over the ocean?"

At that question her eyes lit up and she nodded quickly. "Yeah! It'll be the BEST!" she said happily, looking up at him. "Mommy says theres a place with a lot of shops and a park with rides too?"

"Ah yes, that would be the boardwalk I believe. We'll head there tomorrow morning, okay? We just got here and you kids can enjoy the beach today?" he suggested.

"You'll go too?"

"I'll go too."

That made her excited as she hugged him. It wasn't often that her father went places like that with them. Most people in town made it hard for him to have a nice day out with his family. So instead it was usually Belle and the kids. Besides, he usually worked a lot at the shop and it was rare he would close the shop down for a day. But this weekend, at Belle's persistence, he'd closed the shop down until they got back from their vacation.

At that moment Belle and Baelfire walked downstairs as well. Belle was dressed in her bikini, carrying a small bag of sand toys and the such she'd brought for the kids.

"Alright are we ready to go?" she asked. Looking at her husband and holding out the sandals she'd gotten from their bag.

He smiled to her before taking them and slipping his regular shoes off and the sandals on. Guess he wouldn't get out of this. And really he wasn't sure he wanted to get out of it. Especially as they walked outside and both kids ran for the water while Belle spread a blanket out on the sand and sat the toys down.

The kids looked so happy, so excited, to be out and about having fun. Baelfire hit the water first with Elsa running close behind him giggling as she felt the cold water.

While they did that, Belle held out her hand to help him down onto the blanket. "It's alright, I'll manage." he insisted as he slowly made his way to sit down.

She just nodded slightly, glancing out towards the kids. "Now, you two stay within sight, you hear me?!"

"Yes Mama!" both Elsa and Baelfire said as they ventured into the water.

Belle chuckled at their excitement, settling down next to her husband and shifting to lay down, looking up at him. "See? This is fun."

"It is." he agreed, looking down at her. "Going to get a tan? You might want to use sunscreen love."

"Oh I put some on. I put some on each kid too. Lord help us if they burn." she chuckled, looking up at him and reaching to take his hand slowly. "Relax. I don't see you relax enough. You know you should. It's bad for your health if you don't."

Slowly at her words he shifted to lay on his side, reaching to brush her hair out of her face slowly. "I am the most relaxed I have ever been I promise. Tell me you haven't been talking to Whale?" he asked. Doctor Whale was nice enough, but sometimes the man couldn't mind his own business.

"Well...no but I am your wife and I think I know when you need to relax. Besides, if I did talk to Whale would it be a big deal?"

"I don't want you to worry about me. I'm fine. Fit as a fiddle." he insisted. And really, he was. Beyond his bad leg he was healthy. Though he could see her point, stress did do quite the number on the body and he did stress quite often.

"Alright. If you say so. But it couldn't hurt to relax once in a while, could it?" she asked sweetly, reaching up to unbutton the top button of his shirt with a bit of a smile, almost daring him to take it off.

He chuckled at her persistence, leaning down to capture her lips in a soft kiss before he sat up. Unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it off, resting it off to one side before he laid back, glancing over at her. "Better?"

"Much."

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 **Saturday, July 4th**

They'd had fun on the beach, playing around, enjoying the sun. At some point Belle had gone to a grocery store to get a few things to make for dinner, thinking it'd be fun to cook out for 4th of July and to also have a few snacks in the house to take to the beach. Baelfire and Elsa practically wanted to live on the beach, in the sand and it was so cute. It almost made Belle want to never leave seeing her kids so excited to be outside and in the sun and sand.

Though the next morning they weren't going to just sit out on the beach. They had plans on going down to the boardwalk and seeing the shops and sights. It would be fun and everyone was excited.

Everyone was packed up in the car and they'd drove down to a parking lot at the far end of the boardwalk before getting out. Usually Belle hated the idea of making her husband walk so much, but he'd insisted he would be fine and that he wanted to go. So she'd had the kids wear their bathing suits underneath their clothes so they could go swimming while they stop every so often.

Belle smiled as she walked along the boardwalk with her arm through her husbands. Again he'd dressed down in a simple pair of dress pants and a button up short sleeved shirt. Belle had even gotten him to wear a pair of sun glasses that were neatly tucked into his shirt in case he needed them. And Belle wore a simple baby blue short sun dress that fell down a couple of inches above her knees and a pair of wedged sandals on her feet with her own sunglasses actually on rather than tucked away.

Both Elsa and Baelfire knew to go too far away from their parents and stuck pretty close by as they walked and looked around at the small little shops that lined the boardwalk selling various wares.

The shops they passed were cute and quaint. Sometimes they stopped in one, and some they passed by. When they finally decided it was time to sit down both Belle and Gold found a seat on a bench while Belle took Elsa and Bae's clothes so they could run out into the water.

Sitting back next to her husband, folding the kids clothes next to her on the bench before she leaned into her husbands shoulder, looking up at him with a smile. "It's so nice here. It's crowded, but nice."

"Indeed it is." he said, moving one arm around her shoulders and squeezing her lightly.

Slowly she laid her head down on his shoulder, looking out at the kids playing and let out a happy sigh. Chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes turned up to Gold's face, seeing him looking at their children as well. "Marcus?"

"Hm?"

"Are you happy?" she asked in all seriousness as she stared up at his face wonderingly.

At her question he looked down at her and smiled with a nod. "I am the happiest man in the world my Belle. Never, not once, question that. It's me who should ask if _you're_ happy."

She giggled a bit and nodded. "You silly man, you know I am."

"Ah and none of these handsome young men can turn your head?"

Gently she rest one hand on his chest and shook her head. "I only have eyes for one man you should know that by now." she said happily, leaning up to kiss him gently and brushing her nose against his. "You're the only man I could want. I worry about you though you know. You work too much and stress too much and eventually it'll get to you."

"I suppose I could cut back the hours at the shop.." he said thoughtfully as he looked out to watch his two kids playing in the sand and the ocean.

"And spend more time with your family. That I could agree upon." she said with a smile as she cuddled close to him.

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They spent a while on that bench, watching their kids play. And when it was time to find a place to eat lunch Belle saw the cutest little carry out place, figuring that would work. The place was called Pollock Johnny's. They'd all gotten various types of polish sausages and took the food and their drinks out to eat at a small little table on the boardwalk.

Belle of course would eat last. She almost always did as she sat the tray down and got her husband and both kids sat down and put their hot dogs in front of them. Gathering the drinks, making sure everything was right before she sat down herself and began to eat her polish sausage with the works.

"Well," she started as she finished chewing a bite of her food. "I thought we'd walk back towards the car. I want to head out to Assateague Island today before heading back to the house and watching the fireworks. Hun, are you going to cook out on that grill tonight?" she asked, looking at Gold.

"I suppose. But what in gods name is Assateague Island?" he asked as he looked up at his wife.

"Oh they have a ton of things! Wildlife and the like. They also have wild ponies that looked so adorable on the brochure." she said happily.

At the sound of that Elsa's own eyes lit up. "PONIES? That'd be so cool mommy! Yeah daddy we haaave to go now! Can I pet the ponies?"

"No, you can't pet them but you can look at them. Remember dear it isn't right to interfere with wildlife too much. Besides these are wild ponies, not the kind you find in stables. Sure they're probably nice enough and used to people, but you never know with a wild animal. Though I suppose you'll never know with any animal..." she started and then shrugged. "Oh well. We're not petting them. But we can learn a bit about them."

Elsa pouted a bit before taking a bite of her food, swinging her legs back and forth. "I wanna look at the ponies. Papa remember you said I could take riding lessons when I'm old enough too?"

"I remember. And you're not old enough." he said, reaching over to brush Elsa's blonde hair out of the way of her food before he looked at his son. "So, what'll it be son? To see the ponies?"

"Yeah that could be cool. Is there any other kind of animals?" Baelfire asked, looking towards his mother.

"Well...I'd suppose so. I've never been, only read about it. There is a visitors center that'll tell us all about them so we'll go there first."

"Then it's settled. To Assateague Island we go." Gold said as he took another bite of his food.

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When they'd finished their food they headed over to Assateague Island. It was beautiful looking, settled on the border between Maryland and Virginia with a ton of local wildlife.

Parking out front of the visitors center, the family all got out and Elsa practically ran up the stairs to the center. Chuckling at her enthusiasm, Gold walked up behind her with his wife and Baelfire just in front of them.

Inside they learned all about Assateague Island. They learned the horses have been there since the 1600's roaming Assateague's land. And some people believed the horses were brought over by a Spanish galleon ship that sank just offshore, whereas others believed they were with the arrival of early colonial settlers. Which story is true or not does not change the fact that they're there, and the ponies are well adapted to life of solitude on Assateague Island since the island houses approximately 300 of them.

It was fun learning about the ponies they would see. They were cautioned to stay in their cars and not physically interact with the wildlife.

And then came the small gift shop. Elsa found a pony stuffed animal that she seemed to love, and she looked up at her father with such hope filled in her eyes. "Please can I have it daddy?" she asked sweetly.

"You've got enough stuffed animals Elsa..." Belle mentioned before she glanced at something else.

But...how could Marcus Gold say no to those eyes? Those blue eyes that looked up at him, filled with so much hope and innocence. He could say no to just about anyone but his wife and children. With a sigh he nodded a bit. "What will one more hurt? It's vacation..."

Belle shot him a look but then sighed. "I swear. Town monster and you're like putty in her hands."

"Yours too, dearie." he reminded her.

And Elsa got her toy. And they got to drive through the roads of Assateague Island, looking out at various ponies that wandered around. Elsa was so excited she could barely contain herself it seemed. She spent a good chunk of it with her nose pressed against the glass of the car, staring out at the animals, calling them out and asking if she could pet them even though she'd been told no already. She'd just forgotten in her excitement.

Baelfire was even entertained. The older he got, the harder it seemed to capture his interest. He seemed to be a lot more closed-off than his sister was. Where Elsa was bubbly and happy, Baelfire was quiet but just as happy. But even he commented on how nice the horses were.

And they were beautiful, roaming the sandy areas and the woodsy areas as well, at home in a place that was practically untouched by people, left to their own devices.

The drive was pleasant enough, and they drove through the trails and then back out to head back towards the house they were renting. Everyone had to get a shower and change from the day, but Elsa and Baelfire both wanted to go back out on the beach.

Belle and Marcus both sat on the couch while they each sipped at a glass of wine when the kids came down. Belle chuckled at her children when they asked to go back out into the ocean. "Come on now both of you, we're here for a few more days, you'll get sick of the water.."

"No we won't Mama." Baelfire said, looking up at his mother.

"Yeah. Pleaseee mommy?" Elsa added.

"Go on, let them go. We can see them from the window anyway." Gold insisted, rubbing Belle's shoulder. "Let them have their fun."

"Fine fine, go on. But stay close. Bae! You watch your sister."

"Yes Mom!" they both said as they darted out the glass door and towards the sand.

Belle laughed, looking at her husband slowly. "What ever will we do with them?" she asked as she curled up on the couch, cuddling close to her husbands side with her glass of wine in hand.

"Let them have fun while they're still children? They are growing up rather fast..." he said, glancing out the sliding glass door, able to see both kids playing in the sand.

"They really are." Belle said as she moved one arm around his waist, looking up at his face. "Seems like just yesterday I you found me crying at the dinner table on fathers day mumbling about being pregnant. I was such a hormonal mess both times." she said with a laugh.

And he chuckled with her, kissing the top of her head slowly. "Nonsense. You were always perfect love. And you gave me two perfect children."

"Two children that have their daddy wrapped around their little finger." she said, nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder.

"Fitting, seeing as their mother also has quite the same effect on me. Well...perhaps a bit more."

"Perhaps?" she asked, shaking her head and looking outside to watch their children, also watching the slow lapping of the waves onto the sand.

She gave a content sigh and closed her eyes halfway. "I wish we could stay forever..." she muttered.

"Forever? And not go home?"

"Nope. Just...stay in our vacation bubble."

"Ah yes, but doing nothing but relaxing I do believe would drive you crazy, love."

She giggled and nodded, sipping at her wine slowly. "Perhaps. Perhaps it would. But it would be nice for a while."

Gently he rubbed her shoulder, sipping at his wine glass slowly. "It would..." he said, looking out the door at the kids and at the beach. "Maybe we should buy a property near a beach. Doesn't have to be this one. Can be any beach. The kids do rather like the water don't they?"

Slowly she looked up at him and smiled. "Maybe that might be a good idea. But I wouldn't begin to know where.."

"Let me look into a few things when we get home." he said, kissing the top of her head.

Belle snuggled back into his side, smiling happily as she sat with him. And truthfully he _could_ sit like that forever, holding this woman in his arms, watching his children play. Perhaps he would get to. He was truthful about the idea of spending more time with his family. He really did need to.

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A bit before dark Gold fired up the grill out back on the deck. It was a standard propane grill and it amused Belle a bit to watch her husband cook. She sat on one of the lounge chairs with a book, watching him a bit as he flipped the burgers and got things done.

Now, Gold could cook, he'd lasted most of his life without a wife to cook for him, he just hadn't ever been too good at it. He'd grown up pretty poor too so he didn't have much. And he hadn't even heard of grilling until he'd come to America, much less learned how. It'd been Belle that softly explained the tradition and talked him into getting a grill for their own back yard and cooking out.

Ever since purchasing that thing he'd been the one to cook out whenever they would grill. And this was no exception. He could make a burger rather well it seemed.

Their dinner went off without a hitch, burgers courtesy of Marcus Gold, and when they'd finished it was almost time for the fireworks to start.

To watch the fireworks both kids beforehand had gotten cleaned up and laid out on a blanket in the sand while Belle and Gold shared a lounge chair that was big enough for the two of them. Laying back in the lounge, they both looked up as they watched the fireworks burst across the sky in various different colors, lighting up the night sky.

Fireworks had been another thing that Gold hadn't seen in Scotland where he'd grown up. It was quite remarkable and the colors in the sky mesmerized him every time. Really, being a Scotsman, Gold didn't know much about the significance of the 4th of July. Belle had explained to him that it was to celebrate the United States becoming their own nation and adopting the Declaration of Independence.

Whatever it was for, he was glad to spend that particular weekend with his family. With his wife cuddled up to his side, his children laying on a blanket watching the same fireworks he watched.

Glancing over, he saw as Belle's face illuminated in the light of the fireworks, her blue eyes trained on the sky above them as she watched in amazement. And then he looked towards his children, towards Baelfire and Elsa. Elsa, who rarely sat still, was sitting on her blanket with Baelfire, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at the blasts of light illuminating her.

Baelfire was almost equally amused. Not one of them noticed when Gold looked at them and he just smiled.

All in all, it was a good idea to come out of Storybrooke so far from home. At home he rarely got to relax, having to be portrayed as the town monster. But here he only had to be himself; a husband, a father. And he rather liked it. The more he thought on the idea of buying a vacation home the more he liked it. Go somewhere where people did not know him, where his family could have a good time and be happy. And thats all he really wanted; them to be happy.

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A/N: Tada! :-). Happy 4th of July everyone!

Now, I gave everyone a piece of myself with this story. My mom and I always visit Bob Evans when we go on a car trip. And since I live in Maryland I go to Ocean City pretty often. I love visiting Assateague Island, seeing the horses. So the depiction of Ocean City is quite real if you've never been. It's a great place.

Anyway, Happy 4th everyone. Enjoy your friends and families. Enjoy the fireworks and cookouts. And I hope you've enjoyed this story with my little bit of Rumbelle family fluff :-D.


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